Magician's Touch (Deadly Touch book 3) Chapter 49: 49: Good Luck

Read chapter 49 of Magician's Touch (Deadly Touch book 3) by Deb E Howell on NovelPedia.

Llew didn’t want to say goodbye to anyone. For the first time since her father had disappeared, she had a family. With a throat thick with goodbyes and thank yous unable to be voiced, she hugged each new Turhmos friend as they arrived. Over each clung-to shoulder, she saw Jonas shake hands and say the words she wished she could. When finally Elka stood before her, Llew didn’t know what to do with her limbs. She wanted to hug Elka tight and thank her for the lives she had saved, but doing so would be a farewell that could very well be final, should Turhmos continue to send troops in Llew and Jonas’s absence. And so, facing Elka, Llew flailed at first; a cool spring breeze chilled her tear-soaked cheeks. “Damn it.” She embraced Elk. “I’ll never be able to repay you for what you’ve done.” Elka gripped Llew’s shoulders and pushed her back. “The first Aenuk you bring here will be payment enough.” Choked up again, Llew nodded. Elka pulled a handful of Ajnai seeds from a pocket and placed them in Llew’s hand. Llew shoved them into her own pocket and whispered a hoarse, “Thank you.” Elka took a step to the side, guiding Llew toward Jonas. It was time to go. Jonas welcomed her into his space in silence. No doubt he had much on his mind. Llew looked around at their friends and wished them all well with a thought, then turned to Jonas and wrapped her arms about him as he did the same to her. “Ready?” he murmured. Llew shook her head as she pressed her ear to his shoulder and pulled herself in tighter. She couldn’t shake memories of Braph. He had been well-practiced, had his Karan magic, and had been powered by Syaenuk power provided by Llew’s mother. And Llew had been unwilling. She breathed deep, finding calm in his scent and clung tightly, relieving him of that burden, she hoped. Jonas’s hold also firmed up, and shortly Llew had the unsettling feeling of the ground pulling away from her feet, her toes dropping below her heels. Then a firm cushion of air pressed up from beneath, oddly reassuring. And yet, when she glanced down to see the ground pulling away, her whole body experienced a wave of anxiety that settled in her stomach. She closed her eyes, found a calm through several breaths, and dared open them again. They rose slowly. If her eyes hadn’t been open, she might not have known they were moving. Even then, it was difficult to tell, except for the lanterns held by their friends falling below them. “See you in a couple of weeks!” Rowan called. “You better all still be here,” Llew projected her voice down to them. “We will,” said Elka. “There’s still too much needs done around here, anyway.” The smile in Rowan’s voice had Llew smiling as well, taking some edge off her nerves. Jonas rotated them in the air, orienting himself. He took a breath and blew it out. They kept rising, clearing buildings and mature trees, and Jonas added some horizontal movement, accelerating cautiously. “Bye.” The word felt lacking. Llew hoped she had said all she needed to say. And she hoped Rowan was right. The breeze about them became still as Jonas wrapped them in a bubble of air. What a marvel, Llew’s power in his blood. A bird flying by shied away from them as if glancing off a wall. They rose to, perhaps, the height if a four-storied building. Jonas flattened their trajectory and increased their speed to something near his full Syakaran running speed; nothing like whatever Braph had achieved when he had abducted Llew from Rakun and halfway across Turhmos in what felt like seconds. They may have been continuing to accelerate. Llew didn’t know what felt worse: the idea that Jonas couldn’t achieve what Braph had – suggesting an inferiority in ability or imagination, or simply putting them at risk of failure – or Jonas matching Braph’s terrifying performance. She breathed to calm her nerves and settled in for the journey, releasing her worries into a faith in Jonas. It was too dark to see much other than the ground zipping past directly below them, whic